Got a 50 .cal from cabelas, it is the hawkens style. How much powder do I want to use for this rifle at the range and for deer hunting?? I will only be shooting balls from it. Will this make a difference? Everyone has told me that the barrel wont be good for sabots. Is this true???

Mine wouldn't shoot sabots worth squat, they all tumbled. It'll work well with conicals or round balls tho. I used 90 grs. of powder with conicals and balls both. Recoil is more pronouced with conicals but not bad.

I've got an old cva Hawkens that I've sighted in at 100 yards. I have found with mine, that 70 grn of pyrodex is the most accuarate. I have tried sabots with very little success. I use 250 gr conicals for my best results. I use the same load for deer.

Take a look at your manual for their recommends. Probably 1:48 twist which is neither ideal for PRB or Sabots but instead a happy medium for both and capable of shooting both with good accuracy. Range time is in order to work up the loads you are comfortable with. My target load is 70grns, my teaching load is 40 or 50 depending on whose powder I'm shooting and my hunting load is 90-95. All with loose powder. The last time I went out, I shot a 1.5" group at 40yds. I'm happy !!!

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Everyone has told me that the barrel wont be good for sabots. Is this true???

Not so, just not ideal. Look your barrel over and see if the twist is identified.

Mine diffinetly shoots PRB most accurate. As Pahoo stated: range time is a must. If you go with PRB experiment not only with charges but with thickness of patchs. FYI, make sure you have a ball extractor in your range bag. Old Indian says "stuck balls =`s short range trip". P.S. Pahoo, hello my friend. Glad to see your still spreading your infinite B/P knowledge .

Got a 50 .cal from cabelas, it is the hawkens style. How much powder do I want to use for this rifle at the range and for deer hunting?? I will only be shooting balls from it. Will this make a difference? Everyone has told me that the barrel wont be good for sabots. Is this true???

Sabots may be a problem if it is 1-48, I think they need a faster twist, like 1-28. It should shoot both RB and conicals OK. My T/C is 1-48, I use both but prefer RB. You can start around 70gr and work up. My particular rifle shoots best at 75-80gr.

i have had a cabelas hawken for about 15 years now. they shoot great.. round ball works the best out of mine.. but conicals are not far behind. powerbelts are third. and sabots were just a nightmare, both in acuracy and loading. and also getting plastic fouling in the barrel. for hunting i use conicals in the 300 grain range and us about 85 grains of pyrodex. and also order a hotshot nipple if you plan on using pyrodex or trip 7. otherwise you may get some hangfires.. both of the synthetics have a higher ignition temp. and forget about using pellets . not sure if that was somthing you were looking at. now as others have stated.. only way to know what charge to use is range time.. and getting your barrel broke in. i typicaly lean twards the acuracy side of things rather than power. even if your gun likes 65 grains of powder.. thats still more than enough to bring down deer sized game out to a 100 yards.
good luck and enjoy your new rifle.. of all the BP guns i have . that 50 cabelas is still my favorite to shoot. and the one i shoot the best with.

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